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'One for the Money' Trailer: 'Midnight Run' with Katherine Heigl

Author Janet Evanovich's popular "born-and-bred Jersey girl [with] plenty of attitude," Stephanie Plum, was reportedly inspired in part by Robert De Niro's hard-living bounty hunter character from Midnight Run. So, based on that description, one might envision an actress like, say, Marisa Tomei being recruited to play the heroine in the new adaptation of Evanovich's Plum novel, One for the Money, right?

Instead, Lionsgate went with Katherine Heigl for the part of Miss Plum - and judging by the One for the Money trailer, this film isn't going to win over anyone who wasn't already a fan of the former Grey's Anatomy startlet.

One for the Money looks to be an action-rom-com in the vein of the Heigl-starring Killers. It was directed by Julie Anne Robinson (The Last Song) and co-scripted by writers such as Kirsten Smith (The Ugly Truth) and Liz Brixius (Nurse Jackie). Based on that collective filmography, you probably already have an inkling of what sort of comical tone the Evanovich adaptation is going for.

Here is an official synopsis for One for the Money:

Desperate for some fast cash, Stephanie (Heigl) turns to her last resort: convincing her sleazy cousin to give her a job at his bail bonding company…as a recovery agent. True, she doesn’t even own a pair of handcuffs and her weapon of choice is pepper spray, but that doesn’t stop Stephanie from taking on Vinny’s biggest bail-jumper: former vice cop and murder suspect Joe Morelli (Jason O'Mara) – yup, the same sexy, irresistible Joe Morelli who seduced and dumped her back in high school.

Nabbing Morelli would be satisfying payback – and a hefty payday – but as Stephanie learns the ins and outs of becoming a recovery agent from Ranger (Daniel Sunjata), a hunky colleague who’s the best in the business, she also realizes the case against Morelli isn’t airtight. Add to the mix her meddling family, a potentially homicidal boxer, witnesses who keep dying and the problem of all those flying sparks when she finds Morelli himself…well, suddenly Stephanie’s new job isn’t nearly as easy as she thought.

Check out the trailer for One for the Money (via Yahoo! Movies) below:

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Give Heigl credit... she only drops her (thankfully) underplayed Jersey accent a handful of times in this One for the Money trailer. Faint praise, we know.

On a kinder note: it is actually kind of refreshing to see the actress playing a character besides the beautiful, but undeniably uptight career-driven gal type (see: every other Heigl role). O'Mara (Terra Nova, Life on Mars) and Sunjata (Rescue Me, Grey's Anatomy) both look to be having a bit of fun as Heigl's respective bad guy/good guy love interests in One for the Money - though it's almost shocking to see Debbie Reynolds playing the "wacky" elderly matriarch here. Those parts are generally reserved for Betty White nowadays, right? Moving on...

Whether or not One for the Money will be as broad a mix of "hip" comedy and action as is indicated in this early theatrical preview - that remains to be seen. However, if a film that includes "quirky" hookers, nudist senile old men, grandmas shooting turkeys, and more than its fair share of rom-com clichés - mixed with the occasional action set piece - doesn't sound like your thing... well, you probably weren't even remotely interested in this movie to begin with.